LIghtSquared Update 6/10/11

The news is not good. SaveOurGPS (the group fighting LightSquared) put out a press release where Jim Kirkland, Vice President and General Counsel of Trimble, reviewed results of testing and suggest the FCC work to find Lightsquared some new specturm to use. Kirkland a founding member of SaveOurGPS.ortg, spoke at the National Space-Based PNT Advisory Board.

"The test data discussed today makes clear that there is substantial interference to GPS if LightSquared turns on high-powered terrestrial facilities in the spectrum next door to GPS. The data confirm what the industry told the FCC before it granted the waiver, and also confirms that there is no viable technical fix. It's time for the FCC to stop squandering resources trying to find a solution to an unfixable problem. Instead, it should focus its efforts on finding spectrum that LightSquared can operate in -- where LightSquared won't interfere with GPS."

The tests in question were overseen by the National PNT Engineering Forum, a federal advisory group of engineers. Deane Bunce, co-chair, reviewed the results onThursday, explaining some devices lost signal strength while others were knocked out completely.

These findings come a week before the official working group reported expected June 15. Safe to say, it does not look good for LightSquared.